Newt Gingrich spoke to the Des Moines Register’s editorial board Friday, and said that homosexuals have a “significant range of choice within a genetic pattern,” or in laymen’s terms- people choose to be gay.

To Gingrich, homosexuals’ claim that their genetic makeup predisposes them to like the same sex is not completely true. The former Speaker of the House decries the notion that gay people’s genes are solely responsible for their sexual preference, despite the assertion by various advocates in the gay community.

“I believe it’s a combination of genetics and environment… I think people have many ranges of choices… I don’t believe in genetic determinism,” Gingrich told The Register.

The GOP frontrunner then described homosexuality as a choice, saying, “There are propensities. Are you more likely to do this or more likely to do that? But that doesn’t mean it’s definitional.”

Gingrich believes that someone’s genetic makeup could only partially influence them in the ways of homosexuality. To the former historian, the issue comes down to personal choice regarding one’s sexuality, just like the personal choice not to have sex at all.

“Look, people choose to be celibate… There is a bias in favor of non-celibacy. It’s part of how the species recreates. And yet there is a substantial amount of people who choose celibacy as a religious vocation or for other reasons.”

The problem with gay marriage for Gingrich is that it would become a law, which means those whose genetic outlook does not favor homosexuality would still be forced to live under it. The former Speaker thinks that acceptance of different lifestyles is necessary, but that acceptance is difference from “[normalizing] that as a standard for the whole country.”

In contrast are outspoken activists like Lady Gaga, whose Born This Way Foundation promotes acceptance of the gay lifestyle and gay marriage. Gaga, who claims to be attracted to both sexes, says in her song “Born This Way,” that, "No matter gay, straight or bi / Lesbian, transgendered life / I'm on the right track, baby.”

If Gingrich wins the presidency, he said he plans to go the exact opposite direction of Gaga’s progressive views, reinstating Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell for the military, and defending the “3,000-year-old tradition” of traditional marriage between a man and a woman.